CHAR-
SAL/SH KOOTENAI AND PEND'd ORIELLES TRIBES
CHARLO
KOOSTAHTAH
KOOSTA
SMIMII (Salish: News)
Volume 3 • Number 6
FULL MOON OF THE SERVICEBERRY (July 15, 1973)
Price 15 cents
118 Years Ago Tomorrow, The Tribes Gathered And.
When the chiefs of the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend'd Orielle gathered at Council Grove near what is now Missoula in July, 1855, they thought they were ending their ancient war with the Blackfeet.
But when Thomas Adams, an agent for Issac Stevens, Governor of the Washington Territory, arrived, the chiefs discovered that peace would cost them most of their native range. The traditional range of the three tribes consisted of all of what is now Montana west of the Rockies, parts of eastern Idaho, buffalo hunting grounds east of the mountains and a portion of eastern British Columbia. Adams explained that the U.S. Government, as the agents for peace in the territory, wanted all but a few million acres of this range in exchange for ending hostilities with the Blackfeet. The chiefs were shocked.
Earlier that year they had been called to Meiigate by an-
other agent of Stevens, Lieutenant John Mullen, to talk over a lasting peace in the territory. Mullen had promised them there would be no talk of giving up land and authority. He said it was merely a powwow to discuss a permanent treaty with the Blackfeet later
that year. The head chiefs.....
Victor of the Salish, Alexander of the Pend d' Orielle and Michelle of the Kootenai were prepared to make peace but not to give away land. Kootenai Chief Michelle, who was having a difficult time understanding what was going on because the interpreters were not fluent in his language, had not consulted other Kootenai bands on the matter of land and did not have the authority to sign away the Kootenai lands proposed by Adams (many Kootenai bands refused to acknowledge the agreement and continued to wander their native range until well into the 20 th century.)
The chiefs were still talking
the land proposal over with their people when Stevens arrived. Stevens explained during the first day of the council that he wanted all three tribes to live on one reservation and first suggested the Bitterroot Valley. But Alexander, Chief of the Pend'd Orielle, said he and his people wished to remain in the Jocko, or what is now the Flathead Reservation. There the council bogged down
...the Salish and the Pend'd Orielle both wanted peace and both were attracted by the annuities, guns and tools promised by Stevens but neither wished to move from its traditional homeland.
By the third day of the conference, no compromise was in sight and the situation was falling apart. Tempers began to flare ... Stevens was told that Alexander had privately told Victor that he would move his tribe to the Bitterroot but Victor had refused to answer. Stevens accused Victor of being "an old woman, dumb as a
dog" and questioned his authority as head chief of his people. Victor retorted that Stevens was "talking sharp" like an enemy and walked out of the council.
Negotiations came to a standstill for two days while Victor and the other chiefs pondered the dilemma. The Salish and Pend'd Orielle wanted to come to an agreement...they were tired of their unequal war with the Blackfeet (they had only a few ancient firearms to oppose the well-armed plainsmen) and they certainly did not want trouble with the whites. Spotted Coyote, an Pend'd Orielle War Chief at the council, had been in a scrimmage against the whites during the brief Spokane War. His medicine was bullet proof and he wasn't hurt in the fighting but he saw what heavy rifle P 'd cannons could do to \ Stevens too was an-
(cont. on page 9)
700 Fish Die in Jocko What the 90.10 yote Meang
Canal From Weed Poison
Ravalli (July 3): Fish and aquatic insect life was completely destroyed last Tuesday in one of the Flathead Irrigation Project (FIP) lower canals and over 100 gallons of deadly weed poison was washed down the lower Jocko river into the Flathead.
The total fish kill occuned in the Lower J Canal, a large irrigation ditch which starts just below the Ravalli bridge and meanders through the lower Jocko River valley seven miles before returning to the Jocko east of the Dixon bridge. Ac-
cording to George Moon, Flathead Irrigation Project Director, the fish poisoning happened when a moss clearing project in the canal backfired.
Moon said an FIP crew began applying 110 gallons of highly toxic Xylene, a chemical herbicide, in the canal just below the headgate at 1:00 p.m. The applications began at the Bill Schall ranch and the Schall children were told by the crew to "stay out of the water for a couple of hours." The crew had shut the canal flow down (cont on page 3)
Dixon (June 30 ): Whether or not the tribe will begin implementing the 9 0 % proposal approved by reservation tribal member voters June 3 0, has yet to be decided by the Tribal Council.
Five hundred and eighty eligible member voters went to the polls the last day of June to decide if the Tribes should per-capita out 9 0 % of reservation revenues and operate tribal administration on 10 %. The 90% proposal also contained a provision that tribal reserve funds may not be spent without voter approval. The proposition passed 3 63 for to
217 against (district by district canvas chart appears at the end of this story.)
In its first meeting since the election, the regular quarterly meeting held July 6 at the Dixon Agency Gym, the Council declined to decide whether they will implement the proposal this fiscal year or wait until 1974. The 19 73 tribal budget has already been approved by the Council and sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for final approval. The current tribal operations budget is $490,637.... about
(cont. on next page)